• The viruses are back

  If you are starting 2024 with sniffles, a cough, or even a fever, you’re not alone. The festive holiday weeks have left many of us with a respiratory bug. Covid, the flu and RSV are all in play this time of year… along with the common cold… and anecdotally, they’re out in numbers. It’s a good time to talk with UW Medicine Professor Dr. Helen Chu.. she’s here to tell us what we should know about the trio of winter illnesses circulating right now, and what we can do to stay healthy.

  • Vaughan Jones
  • Clare McGrane
  • Patricia Murphy

  Listen 10 mins

• 'The viruses are returning to normal' in Washington for winter 2024

  The winter season in the Northwest brings rain, dark skies, and the sniffles. For winter 2024, health officials expect that a lot more sniffles are coming, with three viruses circulating through the region.

  • Dyer Oxley

• Why older people and the immuno-compromised could need yet another Covid shot

  Four-plus years after the first outbreak, people who've been vaccinated or who had Covid are still being infected. Where are we now?

  • Kim Malcolm
  • John O'Brien

  Listen 5 mins

• How did the world run so low on cholera vaccine? As outbreaks grow, stockpile runs dry

  With cholera on the rise around the world, the global vaccine stockpile is running dry. New doses go right to active outbreaks, with none left for prevention campaigns. Can vaccine makers catch up?

  • Gabrielle Emanuel

• 'I didn’t know it existed.' Why young people are the least vaccinated in Seattle area

  Seventy-one percent of King County residents never got the last booster. And young people are the least likely to get the vaccine: Only 18% of people ages 18 to 34 got last year’s shot.

  • Eilís O'Neill

• How new flu, RSV vaccines could help protect more kids this year

  Several advancements in vaccines could help families keep viruses at bay this year.

  • Eilís O'Neill

• Whooping cough cases in Washington state might hit 2,000 by end of 2024

  So far this year, close to 2,000 cases have been reported in Washington state, compared to just 78 at the same time last year. This year’s total is the highest since 2012.

  • KUOW Staff

• WSU had 'just cause' to fire former football coach Nick Rolovich for refusing Covid vaccine, court finds

  Three years after Washington State University fired its head football coach, a federal court has said the university had the right to do so.

  • Katie Campbell

• U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier discusses vaccine hesitation consequences as King County records first measles case

  King County has recorded Washington state's first measles case of the year. Measles is extremely contagious for those who aren't vaccinated.

  • KUOW Staff
  • Natalie Akane Newcomb

  Listen 9 mins

• The flu is still going around Washington. It’s not too late to get your shot

  To date, at least 296 people in Washington state have died of the flu since the fall. But it’s not too late to get the shot if you haven’t already.

  • Eilís O'Neill

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